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Black Ajah
The Black Ajah of the Aes Sedai is a secret Ajah, consisting of Darkfriend Aes Sedai who masquerade as sisters of other Ajahs and who have forsaken their Three Oaths in order to serve the Dark One. Reports of its existence have been vehemently denied by the White Tower for millennia, however the mass execution of all Black sisters among the rebel Aes Sedai proves the Black Ajah does indeed exist. The leader of the Black Ajah is a very powerful woman, who sits at the head of the Supreme Council and answers directly to the Forsaken. Size Due to the secretive nature of the Black Ajah, its exact size is unknown to all except its leader. However, Verin Mathwin spent decades compiling a coded list of all known Black sisters, and her list was quite thorough. According to Verin's list: * There are 204 Black sisters in total * 48 are Red (making at least 24% of all Red sisters actually Black) }} * 38 are Green * 31 are Gray * 28 are Brown * 21 are Yellow * 21 are Blue * 17 are White In the same book Egwene commented that 6 more Black sisters were found outside the Verin list, but we don't know their former Ajah. Of course it must be taken into account that many of the sisters on Verin's list are now deceased, the majority having been executed by Egwene al'Vere and the rebel Aes Sedai. Demographics Four Andoran, four Domani; three Saldaean, three Taraboner; two Kandori; one Arafellin, one Cairhienin, one Far Madding, one Ghealdanin, one Illianer, one Malkieri, one Shienaran. All remaining Black nationalities are unknown. Membership Most sisters who join the Black Ajah were not Darkfriends before they did so. They worked for years as ordinary sisters until members of the Black Ajah suspected that they may be susceptible to swearing allegiance to the Shadow. Liandrin was a Darkfriend before she came to Tar Valon and sought out the Black Ajah from the day she arrived, but we know that Galina Casban and Katerine Alruddin were both Red sisters for longer than they have been Black. Those who might be willing to become a member of the Black Ajah are likely those who find the Three Oaths chafing and who delight in the power an Aes Sedai has over non-channelers, even having been known to abuse it. The Black Ajah allows them to exploit their power free of the restrictions of Tower Law and the Oaths, but at the price of swearing to the Shadow. Like most Darkfriends, they probably did not feel the truth of their fealty to the Shadow until the arrival of Ishamael a few years after the Aiel War. Tower Initiates Robert Jordan has said that the position of teachers of novices and Accepted means that the Black Ajah knows every student very well before they even become Aes Sedai. Thus are women groomed for the Black Ajah, or perhaps singled out as possible candidates, from very early on in their training. As the Black Ajah does not recruit from among Tower initiates, having a Black sister as Mistress of Novices is a very handy way of keeping tabs on those girls who when they are raised to the shawl. Previous Mistresses of Novices who were also Black Ajah include Merean Redhill, Sheriam Bayanar, and Katerine Alruddin. Organization The Black Ajah is administered by a Supreme Council, (also alternatively called the Great Council), which consists of thirteen sisters who meet while hooded so that none may know the identity of another. If one member of the council dies, then another is raised in her place, thereby keeping a constant number in the leadership of the Black Ajah. The Great Council is headed by one woman, who knows the identity of every sister in the Ajah. Within the Black Ajah, sisters are organized into 'hearts', groups of three women who know each other's identity and who in turn each know one sister from another heart. Only the head of the Great Council knows the full structure of the Ajah concerning how all the hearts are interlinked and which sisters they contain. Leaders (right), head of the Supreme Council of the Black Ajah]] The head of the Great Council of Thirteen is Alviarin Freidhen, who was raised to the position by Ishamael himself. The remaining twelve members of the council are unknown. Hearts Known hearts include: * Atuan Larisett, Karale Sanghir, Marris Thornhill * Galina Casban, Talene Minly, Temaile Kinderode It is unknown whether these hearts have been reassembled. Replacing the Three Oaths The members of the Black Ajah are not bound by the Three Oaths, but they do have three replacement oaths. One of them is an oath to not reveal any current plots that the Black Ajah is involved in, or to expose any other Black sisters. A second was revealed by Verin Mathwin as "not to betray the Great Lord, to keep my secrets until the hour of my death". This wording makes it possible for a Black sister to betray those secrets in what she knows to be her last hour of life. The nature of the third oath is unknown. Involvement With The Chosen It is thought that the Black Ajah was founded by Ishamael himself, who was not bound completely into Shayol Ghul as the rest of the Forsaken were. Since the release of the other Forsaken, Mesaana, Be'lal, Lanfear and Graendal have all come to the White Tower and spoken with Alviarin. The Black Ajah is nominally controlled by Mesaana, who is undercover in the White Tower. This is because she controls Alviarin Freidhen, the head of the Black Ajah, who knows the identities of all Black Sisters. During the [[Battle in Tel'aran'rhiod|Battle in Tel'aran'rhiod]], Egwene al'Vere mentally overpowered Mesaana. Her mind was destroyed, and a Brown sister called Danelle was then found as a non-sentient invalid. This led the White Tower to conclude that Mesaana had either been Danelle the entire time, or had been impersonating the original Danelle. The truth is, however, that the Black Ajah are as subject to the whims of the Forsaken as any other Darkfriends and know they have no choice but to obey any of the Chosen should they command it. Not only that, but they would have to obey any non-channeling Darkfriend that may stand higher than them in Darkfriend circles. Activities * The murder of all sisters involved in the search for the Dragon Reborn after his birth * Be'lal and Mesaana sent a group of thirteen Blacks to Tear, in the hopes of capturing the Dragon Reborn. They fled the Tower with several ter'angreal, murdering a score of people along the way * The attempted assassination of Egwene, in both the real world and the World of Dreams Future With the existence of the Black Ajah having been proven, and with the subsequent execution of all Black sisters in the Little Tower, it seems the Black may be on the brink of extinction. But many Black sisters evaded capture and have fled the White Tower; it is likely they will remain hidden until the time when the Last Battle begins. List of current Black sisters :See also Category:Black Ajah Alphabetically by name Table by Ajah Black Ajah Category:Aes Sedai factions